Fathima Idris and Reluctant Writer conceded that ‘Allah’ is used by Arabic Christians but claim that it is wrong for us to use it in Bahasa Malaysia because Bahasa Malaysia is not Arabic and Malaysian Christians have never used the word ‘Allah’ before.

This shows ignorance of the long tradition of Christians who speak Malay and Malay- related languages particularly those in East Malaysia. Did they not learn anything from the Iban bible controversy four years ago?

Fathima said: ‘Thus if Wong is sincere in the assertion that Christians here refer to Allah since it ‘originated in the Arab world’ then I believe they would have no objections to the first principle of the Rukun Negara being amended to read ‘Kepercayaan kepada Allah.’

Sure. I have no problems at all. Although some West Malaysian Christians who are ignorant of the tradition may object to that, my opinion doesn't change.

Just as there are ignorant Muslims, there are also ignorant Christians. However, this situation is changing as more and more Malay-speaking Christians show up in West Malaysian churches bringing with them songs in which they call God ‘Allah’.

Reluctant Writer said: 'And I need to ask ‘Look. Observe’, do you truly pray to Allah? Would you?'

I do. Whenever I pray in Malay, I refer to God as ‘Allah’. Whenever I sing Christian songs in Malay, I refer to God as 'Allah’.

As I explained in February, ‘Allah’ and ‘Tuhan’ are used by Malay-speaking Christians to translate to two different words.